Sorry, updating this news page escapes me sometimes during the giddy throes of new release day. New to Cipher:
(sic 125) Scar Crowe 'A Sudden And Unexplained Drop In Temperature' C-20
This subdued alter-ego of Patrick O’Neil (Skin Crime, Hanged Man’s Orgasm) finds terror in nature: the blackness of night, the wetness of soil, the chill of snow. ‘A Sudden And Unexplained Drop In Temperature’ traces the fine details of found sound and palpitating ambient through scenes of delayed decay and posed hillside victims.
Painted and printed wood covers tied to a cassette and booklet with printed hessian. Edition of 75 copies.
(sic 131) V/A 'Transgressive Collective IV' CD / C-40
Retrieved from the vaults of Reverse Records, ‘Transgressive Collective IV’ is the culmination of enquiries into the irreverent, unforgiving, callous and violent. Sharing only a broad theme, each of Sutcliffe Jügend, Satori, Isomer, Streicher, Inhibition, Dry Greed, S.T.A.B. Electronics and Stark contribute a track of their finest contemporary work, as well as a page of A5 art. Stan Reed (Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, Dried Up Corpse) then added a detailed piece of collage art for the cover.
The result is a 12 page booklet paired with eight tracks on either CD or cassette (same content on each), with 100 on each audio format. A highpoint of modern audio primitivism and exploratory arts.
(sic 133) Kadaver 'My Hell Is Above' C-42
Another set of fire and brimstone from the never disappointing Kadaver. Armed with an arsenal of hellfire and militaria, Michael Zolotov advances another unforgiving barrage of maelstromic harsh noise. Includes an appearance from Murderous Vision’s Stephen Petrus on one track.
Pink chrome tapes packaged in a ziplock bag, with collage art by Ben Schmidt (Cursed Earth tapes, Bespoke Decay, etc.). Edition of 75 copies.
(sic 140) Theologian 'People Are Weak They Deserve Pain' C-40
The successor to 2018’s ‘Reconcile’ cassette on Cloister Recordings, ‘People Are Weak They Deserve Pain’ finds Theologian bracing for the imminent end of human civilisation.
As each day greets us with more news of impending annihilation, we feel fortunate to live lives of relative privilege, casting our opinions on the scales via social media as though they actually carried weight. The deities man looks to for his solace have all been revealed as sham; whether it be money, power, sex, or the voluntary stupidity of religious “faith,” avarice and cruelty have proven to be the truths which guide our society. No more hiding behind ideologies. As Cronus castrated his father Uranus to depose a corrupt power, it is left to the masses, drunk on their conveniences, to rise up. Yet… we won’t. Not here… Not in America. Lee Bartow is weighed down by a paralysis which stems from the fear that there’s no way to undo what we’ve done. All that is left, is for our society to be swept away by the winds of history.
Theologian performance at the Dominion Of Flesh USA festival presented by Cloister Recordings and Fringe Records NYC, features slightly different mixes than the original digital EP, and was mastered by J Stillings at Steelhook Mastering. Insert, sticker and labelled tape in a foil bag. Edition of 80
(sic 141) Cryptophasia 'End' 7"
The final breaths of Cryptophasia, four tracks of curdled electronics swipes, emphysemic ambient smog and faint machinery heartbeats, which seem to draw in dust and decay as the needle hits the groove. Even against a background of ashen monotone, Cryptophasia turns pallid and fades to grey: this time for the last time, as ‘End’ winds the project back through the cemetery gate at which it started.
Lathe-cut 7” with centre labels and foldout cover designed by James Keeler (Wilt). Edition of 40 copies.
(sic 142) Living Room 'The Cipher Tape' C-30
Within the Living Room vista Matthew promised me something “extra fucked” for ‘The Cipher Tape’, and he delivered. Mangled noisecore, electroacoustic mangling, ghastly electronics, and uncomfortable tape fragments all careen through a constantly unsettled upset of brave edits and unintended consequences. It’s cut-up, Jim, but not as we know it.
A5 wraparound covers with collage artwork from Matthew Reis, labelled cassettes. Edition of 60 copies.
(sic 145) Swollen Organs 'Obesity Indoctrination' C-31
After superb releases on labels of note including Breathing Problem, Nil By Mouth and Deathbed Tapes amongst others, I had to persuade Jimmy Aly to record some material for Cipher. Swollen Organs has unleashed some of the most personally punishing and plaintively primitive of modern American power electronics, capturing the genre’s distended core and wrapping it in a complex veil of guilt, paraphilia, resentment and challenge.
‘Obesity Indoctrination’ engages those obstacles anew through five tracks barely contained by analogue 31 minutes of tape, wrapped in a suitably sweaty and bloated wraparound cover and packaged with a body fat caliper: join in the dismal realisation. Edition of 75 copies.
(sic 152) Jonathan Canady 'Empty Box' C-62
‘Empty Box’ is over an hour of psychologically intense heavy electronics, individually dubbed on chrome cassettes, and limited to 57 copies. Each tape is housed in a 5″ box that also contains liner notes, and one of Jonathan’s original drawings from the “Empty Faces” series that is featured on this release. 57 drawings were individually ripped up and put into envelopes for every copy. The artwork can be reassembled and framed if you like.
